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April 22, 2015

Pregnant restaurant worker fired after armed robbery after she refused to pay back money stolen

A fast food restaurant is robbed and the shift manager says she got fired for refusing to pay the money back.

"I told them I'm not paying nothing," said Marissa Holcomb. "I just had a gun to me. I'm not paying the money."

The heist happened on March 31st at the Popeyes restaurant in the 500 block of Sheldon Road in Channelview and was captured on surveillance video.

In the video, you see a man with a beanie over his face run in waving a gun. He forced all the employees to the floor.

Then, he turned his attention to Marissa.

"By the back of my shirt, he pulled me up and he pushed me to the front," she recalled. "He told me to give him everything out of my safe."

But the only thing Marissa could open were the registers. The gunman got away with nearly $400 dollars.

Marissa claimed that after the robbery, one of her managers gave her a choice to either pay the money back or get fired.

"I don't think it's right because now I'm struggling for my family because what I had to do to keep my life"

Less than 36 hours after the robbery, Marissa was fired.

The Popeyes franchise owner, Z&H Foods Inc., wouldn't talk to us on camera. However, a spokesperson in their human resources department explained that Marissa was fired because she broke policy by leaving too much money in the register and this wasn't her first offense.

That spokesperson also claimed that if Marissa was given the option to pay money back, the company knew nothing about it.

We also contacted the Popeyes corporate office Georgia. They referred us back to the local franchisee.

Marissa argued that it was a busy Tuesday when they offer a 2-piece chicken meal for $1.19 and she moved money as fast as she could.

"They got what they got because that's what we made within one hour," she said

We've also learned that Z&H Foods Inc. isn't the only company with this type of policy. Some other fast food joints have rules about how much money is in the till and how much an employee is liable for.

That's little comfort for Marissa who is not only unemployed but pregnant with her fourth child.